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wisya
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 2:12:00 PM
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Hi folks. I just thought I'd let you in on something I've found with the I am mantra but I'm sure the experienced ones already know this. If you have read my other post you will remember that I was having problems with the manta and found better results with my old so hum technique.
I discovered a very effective way of using the mantra. The key seems to be to allow the manta to become quieter and quieter until its barely noticeable anymore. What seems to happen then is that my conscience follows it into the void so it can still be heard. This pulls me deeper and deeper into silence. Basically chasing the sound. If I lose it I go deeper until I find it again. The secret seems to be to make the mantra as quiet as you possibly can. If I say the mantra loudly it has nothing like this effect.
I hope my rambling makes sense to you folks. Its a bit like a child following a puppy into a forest and before you know it you are very far away from home.
Hope this helps
Wists |
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nodoubt
India
90 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 5:02:25 PM
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FYI, Folks don't know how to say bija mantras. Mantras like ham, hum, bam, etc., are not like "dinner ham," or "hum a song." These bijas have a particular pronunciation. They are not like "bung" or "hoong," or "hung," either.
The way to say these correctly is to do the following:
For example hum.
You say "hooooo....,"
Then, at the very end of the breath or the inner thought, you at this...
"nnnggg?" very softly. It's difficult to demostrate in writings.
But the point is at the end it is like a question, but in a cute sweet tone, like when little girls say, "reeeaaaalleee?" And the tone trails up at the end.
This has the effect that I AM mantra is intended to do. It draws the prana from the root to the brow. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 5:01:35 PM
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Hi Nodoubt,
I am not sure if you are familiar with AYP, but in AYP we do not focus on the pronunciation of the mantra.
When something is posted in the...
Support for AYP Deep Meditation and Samyama
Support for AYP Pranayama, Mudras and Bandhas
Satsang Cafe - General Questions on AYP
...it is appreciated that the reply you post relates to the AYP practices and in order to do so, please read the AYP lessons.
In any of the other forums you are welcome to post your knowledge about the other practices you are familiar with. We have many people who start AYP practices and are still not well versed with what are in the lessons, and so as not to confuse them with practices from "other systems", we ask people to not post practices or advice that are not AYP related in these 3 forums.
Thanks for understanding and thanks for your cooperation.  |
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AlaskaBoy
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 7:08:35 PM
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| Wists - I am not that experienced, so thank you for sharing this. I am always seeking to get deeper in my meditations, and this is helpful. Appreciate it! |
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Medea
Netherlands
115 Posts |
Posted - Jun 13 2011 : 05:20:55 AM
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Hi Wisya,
good to hear from you again. You said:
quote:
Originally posted by wisya
I discovered a very effective way of using the mantra. The key seems to be to allow the manta to become quieter and quieter until its barely noticeable anymore. What seems to happen then is that my conscience follows it into the void so it can still be heard. This pulls me deeper and deeper into silence. Basically chasing the sound. If I lose it I go deeper until I find it again. The secret seems to be to make the mantra as quiet as you possibly can. If I say the mantra loudly it has nothing like this effect.
Maybe I do not understand you correctly, but it seems that letting the mantra go quit is an conscious action. I really recommend reading this thread: The key to AYP meditation is not 'to make the mantra as quit as possible'. We do nothing to it at all. If making the mantra more quite is a deliberate action it's a mix with Samyama, another separate practice. In the mentioned thread, this is what is said about it:
quote:
Originally posted by Yogani
I understand what you are getting at by adding the samyama element to your meditation practice to one degree or other. But it is a hybrid practice that depends on the degree of abiding inner silence for the subjective effect you are looking for with it. So, besides not being AYP deep meditation, it is not good meditation instruction for beginners, who will not have the abiding inner silence to support such a practice.
What all of this discussion has been about is mixing meditation and samyama practice. I have no idea where it might lead, but do know that it is not baseline AYP practice, and not accurate DM instruction for beginners.
Some further clarification:
quote:
Originally posted by Yogani
Back-to-back" does not mean some sort of regimented repetition. It means just picking up with mental repetition and not planning anything as we use the mantra. It can get fast or slow, seem stuck in one constant pattern, or have no discernible tempo at all -- just a subtle feeling. None of this is determined by our will (the key point). The neurobiology is what determines it, depending on what is going on with purification and opening at the time, and this will keep changing (there can be experiential plateaus from time to time). This is why we say the experience can be anything, and we don't evaluate it. We just do the procedure. The results will show up in our daily activity, no matter what the experience in meditation may be.
So when you practise deep meditation, let the mantra do it's own thing. This is the way the nervous system gets purified. If that means the mantra is getting quieter and quieter by itself, than that's fine. Just don't make it a concious action. And remember, the effectiveness of you meditation practice is measured in your day-to-day life, not during the procedure of meditation itself. The sensations you experience during meditation say nothing about it's effectiveness.
I hope this offered you some clarification. I know first hand how difficult it can be to keep procedures like this simple:) Our clever minds try to do anything to keep control.
Good luck Wisya and keep practising!
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wisya
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2011 : 04:54:58 AM
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Thanks people. Very interesting stuff. I will try to do as advised for sure but this morning before I read the posts I had another awesome session by doing what I said above. I tried to let the mantra do its own thing and as usual got to a plateau. The second I let the mantra start to fade away off I went again; at one point I actually felt that I was falling. I'll read the thread advised again to see what the problem is with this. I do though understand that the mantra is supposed to do its own thing and I guess that's the point. Maybe shortcuts are not allowed then  |
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wisya
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2011 : 05:33:00 AM
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OK; I've just read the thread suggested above again. I haven't been letting the mantra go into silence, I've just been turning down the volume to minimum. But I guess that is controlling too. I'll try and do as I'm told then but no promises
Wisya |
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Medea
Netherlands
115 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2011 : 3:15:18 PM
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| When you are stable in your meditation practice, you can always choose to add samyama too :) However, if you're not doing it already, start spinal breathing pranayama first to balance it all. Good luck! |
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Vayu
USA
40 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2011 : 12:13:29 AM
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Hello Wisya, I too started DM just a few months ago with inconsistent practices. However, I too noticed that the DM process works faster if I think/intent/will the mantra like a feather touch. First, I try to make sure that Im not saying the mantra by making sure that my tongue and mouth are not moving. Next, I try to make sure that the mantra isn't related to the breath; I do this by repeating it at random locations of the breathing timeline. Finally, just as you found, I just "think" the mantra faintly and immediately, I notice a smooth vibrational effect. This whole thing maybe takes a minute or so, and the process of DM starts right away and it starts going deeper. It eventually comes to the point where the mantra becomes refined enough that even the sound of "I AM" is not there anymore. Just a very faint intention to go back creates the same vibrational effect at the top areas of the spinal nerve. Then, I try to let go of the whole thing and come back to the mantra when I realize that I have lost it. And I also noticed, in retrospect, that back in the day when I first started the mantra DM, I would think the mantra clearly, with concentrated awareness and the refinement would not even happen. But after reading many threads in the forum, I understood the process much better. So, I decided to start the DM process by almost immediately starting with a blurry version of the mantra right away and immediately I noticed some effects. Ofcourse, these effects may be scenary. But I feel that DM is working in some really powerful way.
So, I guess the tricks are to make the mantra as silent, faint, fuzzy as possible. In a way, I feel that such "shortcuts" are actually the core of the mantra DM process. Eventually, (and I might be wrong here), I think the mantra's structure is completely gone but the intention to come back to its almost nonexistent structure creates/continues the same, if not even more powerful, effects. I think this gradient from clear -> subtle/nonexistant mantra slowly lets us understand how silent we can be? Its strange though, because the silence Im experiencing through the DM process right now is really vibrant!!!
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Edited by - Vayu on Jun 20 2011 03:15:53 AM |
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